Does a woman sit on a chair in Tunisia?

Mohamed Ali Abdallah-Tunis

Having been the exclusive preserve of men since the independence of Tunisia in 1956, the dream of the first female president to return to power has returned to power with more than one woman wanting to run in the presidential race to be held later this year.

Tunisians are trying to achieve a dream that Kalthoum Kannou, former judge and former president of the Association of Judges (non-governmental trade union judges), could not achieve, the first woman to take part in the presidential race in 2014 after her withdrawal from the first round.

Presidential race
The researcher and university professor Laila Al-Hamami (independent) plans to run again after her application was rejected by the Independent High Electoral Commission in 2014, among the three women are Amna Al-Qarawi, head of the Democratic Movement for Reform and Building (moderate) and Badra Qalloul, Security and military strategy.

The participation of businesswoman Olfa Taras Rambourg and Secretary-General of the Free Constitutional Party, Abeer Mousi, is still in doubt after controversial amendments to the electoral law, which seek out anyone who resorts to political publicity or glorifies dictatorship.

In a statement to al-Jazeera Net, MP and lawmaker Bushra Belhadj Hamida described women as candidates for the post of president of the republic with a bold attempt, explaining that she hoped Tunisian women would reach this post, which remained the monopoly of men.

Integrate women and strengthen their capacities
She added that Tunisian women are pioneers and can run the affairs of the state, such as Western women who have succeeded in overcoming the view of the male society, and has held this position several times, noting that the degree of growth of societies is measured by their ability to integrate women and enhance their abilities as leaders.

"Women in Tunisia have played advanced roles in political life despite the predominance of male mentality," said Nayla Zaghlami, general secretary of the Tunisian Association for Democratic Women, in a statement to Al Jazeera. "Women continue to receive threats of violence.

Zaghlami said that the physiological issue is not an obstacle to women who have succeeded in sharing roles with men in the work of association and political, and expressed the hope to break the barrier of fear and male outlook in the post of President of the Republic.

Women's presence and success
The decision to accept the files of the participants and to run in the presidential elections is either the case of the Supreme Electoral Commission of Tunisia, which had accepted the file of a woman out of the 27 files that met the conditions of candidacy (which is governed by Chapter 74 of the Constitution) out of a total of seventy files in the presidential elections of 2014.

"The arrival of the first woman to the post of President of the Republic will be a valuable victory for Tunisian women, who are less involved in corruption cases than men," said parliamentary speaker Menia Zaghlami of the Ennahda Movement in the People's Assembly.

For her part, the political activist Najwa al-Rizki told Al-Jazeera Net that the arrival of Tunisian women to the presidency is more likely, especially after it achieved successes, where the percentage of representation in the municipal elections was 47.7% of the total number of winners and 29.55% of the lists according to the statistics announced by the Commission Independent High Electoral Commission on 9 May 2018.

Women's successes do not mask their weak representation in party structures, including progressive parties. She explained that Tunisia, which completed the Personal Status Code and approved the principle of equality, is still far from the principles of equality of opportunity and giving women their value in political life.

Only two women hold major party positions: MDRM leader Amna Mansour El-Qaroui and Tunisian party leader Mariam Mounour, among 160 parties, a weak figure in a progressive country such as Tunisia in the areas of rights and freedoms and seeking to advance women's status and participation in decision-making positions.

The fortunes of women
The chances of Tunisian women to reach the post of president remain a legitimate one, after the revolution that gave women the chance and opportunity to make political decision after the arrival of 65 women out of a total of 217 deputies in the Constituent Assembly, while the representation in the House of Representatives 31% of the total 217 deputies, According to political analyst Salah al-Din al-Jourchi, of the island.

Al-Jourshi pointed out that Tunisian women have the right to aspire to the rule of revolution and the decline of old barriers, but the negative view that the presidency requires full time and remains exclusive to men is refuted by the failures of government led by men.

Figures achieved by Tunisian women
In the political scene after the revolution, the numbers of Tunisian women are higher than those of the President of the Republic. After the January 14 revolution, women succeeded in holding important posts. Salma Al-Loumi, the first woman to head the presidential office, Tunisia, where no woman presided over the presidential office.

In the municipal elections of 2018 Suad Abdel Rahim succeeded in being the first woman to hold the post of mayor of Tunis or "Sheikh of the City of Tunis" since the creation of this position, which has been handled by 31 people since the establishment of the municipal system in 1858.

Tunisian women are seeking to become the first Arab woman, fourth to an African woman, such as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was president of Liberia in 2005, first to Africa and whose mandate expired in 2018. Former Mauritian President Amina Gharib Fakim, March 2018 for her involvement in a financial scandal, and Sahli Zodi, the first female president in Ethiopia.